The Scarpone Family: A Legacy of Fine Italian Wines
For over 300 years, the Scarpone family has maintained farms and vineyards adjacent to Abruzzo. In fact, the town, has a "contrada" (suburb) named for them. Lorenzo Scarpone was one of six siblings who grew up and worked on the family farm here.
Always passionate about food and wine, Lorenzo went to a prestigious restaurant and hotel school in Giulianova, Abruzzo, and opened a top-quality seafood restaurant on the Adriatic coast with his chef brother, Marcello. Anxious to see the world, Lorenzo worked on several international luxury cruise liners, and in top Italian restaurants in London (to perfect his English!).
Lorenzo followed his mentor, renowned restaurateur Giancarlo Paterlini, to San Francisco, and worked for him as manager and sommelier at the landmark Donatello Restaurant. Here Lorenzo married his wife Susy and began raising their three children.
Anxious to maintain his ties with his extended family in Abruzzo and to bring the wonderful food and wines of his home region to the U.S., Lorenzo established Villa Italia in 1989 as an Italian wine-importing company. The company has become a leader in its category, importing the wines of some 37 artisan winemakers to the U.S.
Lorenzo was also an early leader of the Slow Food movement, opening their first "convivium" in San Francisco in 1990. From his earliest farming experiences with his father, Vincenzo, he was always been a staunch advocate of small-scale, sustainable agriculture and hands-on artisan winemaking.
When the opportunity arose to purchase an ideally-situated 15 acres of land and olive grove, with the potential of planting a 5-acre vineyard on the hillside across the river from Guardia Vomano, Lorenzo and his family jumped at the chance. His wife, Susy, and sister, Grazia, have renovated the farmhouse into a very comfortable 4-bedroom "agriturismo", with spectacular views of rolling farmland, the snow-capped Gran Sasso, and the blue waters of the Adriatic. About 200 century-old Gentile, Dritta and Tortiglione olive trees produce small quantities of exquisite olive oil.
